Dark Side of the Sun

Chapter 1

Aleksandr and Tomme ran down the flight of creaking wooden steps, racing each other to see who could reach the doorway first. The old grandfather clock tolled eleven times, creating a harmonious cacophony against the shrill ringing of the doorbell.

"Got it!" Tomme cried, but was pushed out of the way by Aleksandr. Their senses were overtaken by excitement to see who the newcomer might be. Simultaneously, Tomme and Aleksandr swung open the full oaken door, revealing a fair girl. Aleksandr was startled by the beauty of her face. She was unaccompanied and looked startled at the sudden rush of the boys. Before any of them could speak, the head of the institution, Madam Mendeleev, appeared and ushered her in.

"Welcome, my dear. This is Îngeri Casè, are you alright?"

The girl seemed to recover her wits and replied,

"Oh yes, thank you..."

"You can call me Madam Mendeleev. Those two rascals who let you in are Aleksandr and Tomme," she told her, gesturing to the boys, who nodded in greeting.

"Please, come in, my dear. I will have Enja fix you a hot drink, it's getting nippy out there!" The girl nodded and sat hesitantly down on one of the old stiff burgundy chairs.

"Where should I put my belongings?" She inquired, gesturing to a worn looking bag on the floor.

"Oh, I'll have one of the boys take it for you." Before Madam Mendeleev could say anything else, Aleksandr had stood and taken the bag.

"Put it in the girls' room on bed 13."

"Yes, madam."

Aleksandr trudged up the steep old staircase, bag in hand. The girl did not seem to have many belongings within it. He wondered what had happened to her. Return in downstairs, he saw her still sitting in the chair and holding a piping mug of cider.

Her head was downcast, and shimmering blond hair cascaded over her shoulders. Now he was almost certain that she was a Fjerdan due to her fair appearance, but the smudges on her face indicated that she had formerly been in disguise. Perhaps she had been in trouble. Aleksandr hoped not. The girl was too pretty to be in trouble. Then she looked up and met his gaze with hers. Startled, he looked away, but not before he had taken in all her features. Her eyes were a luminescent blue, and her pale skin seemed to shine with a luster from within, unexpected in her tawdry appearance. With those eyes, perhaps she was Kaelish as well.

She stood.

"Madam Mendeleev?"

The head matron appeared right away. "What is it, dear?"

"May I retire to my bed now? I'm...tired..." she trailed off in a yawn, looking embarrassed.

"Of course. Tomme!" called Madam Mendeleev. Aleksandr's friend ran like lightning to where the director stood.

"Uh...yes, Madam Mendeleev?" he stammered.

"Would you please show this girl to the dormitories?" Tomme wasted no time in obliging, and departed with the girl, leaving Aleksandr to his own devices. Glad to be alone, he scrambled off into a dark corner to practice his shadows.

"Mind you don't upset my porcelain, young man!"

"Yes, Madam." Aleksandr said. Madam was quite particular about

Mother had told him to keep up his skills before she left him at the house.

"Do not forget your powers, son. I will be back, and you will grow stronger."

Aleksandr had nodded and began to walk into the dark old house.

"Wait, Aleksandr!" Baghra called from behind him. Aleksandr halted sharply in his tracks and faced around to see his mother. Rare was the occasion that she called him his real name. "Son" was usually the most affectionate she got. Baghra looked to him to be unusually haggard and exhausted, which was probably from all of the stress that they had been through.

"Yes, Madra?"

"Not Madra. Baghra. Son, do not fail me." She stared harshly at him to make sure he had heard. Nodding in agreement, Aleksandr had faced his new home and walked in.

It had been three months since he had parted from Baghra, and he was growing unsure whether she would keep her promise and return for him. Conditions at the Îngeri Casè were certainly not desirable, with cramped rooms and limited food and water. Madam Mendeleev was kind to help the abandoned children, but Aleksandr wasn't completely sure he preferred living there to being on the road with Baghra, his mother.

Lost in his thoughts, it wasn't long before he succumbed to the quiet dimness of his corner, and drifted off to sleep.

Later at dinner time, Madam Mendeleev introduced the new girl to the whole household. She stood after all the children had gotten their food, and the girl stood too. Her eyes looked less luminescent in the light from the candles on the vast wooden dining table. Aleksandr noticed that she looked a little lost and maybe even sad standing there facing the great throe of children before her.

"Ahem- children, listen up!" She snapped. "Piotr, pay attention!" A chubby boy with a pointy nose at the right corner of the table looked guiltily up at her.

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled.

"Thank you. I would like you all to welcome our newest addition. This is Salhyn." She beamed as Salhyn waved and smiled and they all said their welcomes and waved back.

She seemed glad when they stopped and she could finally sit down. The dinner was nothing fancy, just our usual bread and milk, but the children devoured it like it was food fit for the the nobles or the king himself. Salhyn, however, didn't appear to be very hungry. Aleksandr didn't understand how an elegant, older girl as she was had come to be at such a dismal place like Îngeri Casè. As he lay in bed trying to fall asleep to the nightly symphony of snores in the boys' dormitory, he thought of the strange new girl. Her eyes were the image in his mind that he fell asleep to.